May 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 38

MANAGING MANAGEMENT

Death in the Workplace
Balancing compassion with compliance
By Lauren Yost

I

n my career, I've worked alongside many coworkers who were grieving the
loss of a loved one. It's fairly common. Actually, it's unavoidable. Death
does not care that there's a big meeting next week or that tickets for the
family vacation are already paid in full (and nonrefundable) - death happens.
For a manager, it's often awkward and uncomfortable trying to balance the
sensitivity to an employee's grieving process with the reality that there are still
expectations that must be met. Keep in mind, however, that the employee is
likely keenly aware of and just as uncomfortable with those competing concerns, but they have the added stress of dealing with the personal loss as well.
Not quite as common is when the
workplace grief is due to the death of
a coworker. The questions of what
the manager needs to balance goes
from two issues to six:
‡ How do you deal with the feelings
of loss that the other employees
may be experiencing?
‡ With several (if not all) of the staff
experiencing some level of grief,
how severe will the impact be on
business operations?

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Parks & Recreation

‡ How will employees deal with the
disruption of business operations
and potentially increased workload?
‡ What is the best way for the manager or organization to express
compassion to the deceased employee's family during this time?
‡ Are there legal or logistical issues
for which the manager is responsible?
‡ And last, but certainly not least,
how are you coping with the loss?

| M AY 2 0 1 3 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

We spend as many or more waking hours with our coworkers than
with our closest friends or, in some
cases, even our family. It's important
to not underestimate the emotional
impact that the death of a coworker can have on staff and the agency.
Most organizations have bereavement policies that give an employee
anywhere from one to five days of
paid leave for the death of a family
member. But when few will extend
beyond blood relatives to even include close friends, fewer still will
include language or scenarios about
time off to deal with the grief associated with a workplace death.
The reality is that while it may
very well be an emotional necessity to give the staff a few days off,
department needs will likely make
that impossible. Rather than trying



May 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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